Valerie Vixen: Teen Fox
by Idiotic Brainspark
Summary: Valerie Simmons is what is called a gene-splicing experiment. She is half-fox. Half of the time, she is just a gamer, stuck in her apartment. The other half, she is the Dark Fox, superhero extraordinaire! Now her life is turned upside down, her only hope is the Avengers...
1. Chapter 1

Author's** Note: I know that I have a lot of other stories to work on, at least for my standard, but this idea kept banging on my head and I just have to use it! What do you think, please tell me. There is not much Avengers in the first chapter, and this one may be short, but the next chapters will be longer. Anyways, this takes place in a timeline where infinity war doesn't happen because Loki never picked up the Tesseract.A few years have passed since homecoming and all the avengers are back to normal. Now on to the story...**

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** Brooklyn, New York:**

An unlit alley, carefully boarded up. Next to it was a small cafe. Many people passed by it, a girl in a hoodie is just sitting there, beside the door, reading a book. A man walked in to the place and shooed her exited from a back door that concealed a tunnel. At the end of it, an old warehouse . A few crates of weapons were eagerly locked up and a man is there carefully checking each gun before putting it in the crates. "Any sign of the Dark Fox?" the first person said warily, the other man inside shook his head, "Nope. It usually strikes a few weeks in, we must be really well hidden."

The man sighed in relief, "Good." He looked around furtively, still uncomfortable, "Are all the guards on patrol?"

The man nodded, "Nothing's getting in." Just then the lights cut.

"You were saying?" The first man groaned.

"Get the guns, we've got heat vision built into the glasses!" the other yelled, panicked. The two scrambled for the guns, knocking several other items off the table.

"Hey, boys, were you expecting me?" The cold voice cut through the chaos. One of the men screamed and shot at the source of the sound. A chilling whisper beside him said, "You shouldn't have done that." The man started shooting crazily at every sound that was made, trying desperately to get the Dark Fox. Suddenly, he seized up as he felt a small jab on his neck, like an injection, as a dart hit his neck. The other one looked around, completely terrified and he caught a silhouette of a vaguely humanoid shape except for the swinging, lashing tail. That was the last thing he saw before the Dark Fox shot a dart at his elbow. A figure dropped down, her face hidden under the cloak she was wearing. She tied up the two thugs and put them in the middle of the room, surrounded by the stolen weaponry that they sold. She then walked outside and took off her cape and glasses, instead slipping into her hoodie and shoving the suit in her bag left on the roof. She walked out on tho the streets and yelled out, "Help! There are gunshots coming from the warehouse! Somebody help!" she continued this until a person came to take a look. There was a yell, more people came, the police taped off the area. When asked who raised the alarm, nobody knew.

She ran off from the alley, carefully climbing up buildings using the irregularly placed signs and windows as handholds. She knocked on one particular window to open it. It slid open into a lab, a musty, darkened room completely filled with screens and a half-built combat suit. A man with black hair and green eyes was welding something together. He's obviously tired, being surrounded by empty or half-empty coffee cups.

"Hi Derek. Did you manage to get it working?" She asked amiably

The guy looked up and smiled tiredly "Oh, hey, Vee. No, it's still taking some time. Did you bring back the prototype I gave you?"

Valerie nodded, "This warping technology is a lifesaver, you should show it off more," she said as she placed the pair of gloves and special wire framework attached to the sunglasses she had worn during the raid.

Derek nodded, "Sure, I need to add some more advancements, though, it's not very useful just yet. Too many limitations"

Valerie rolled her eyes, "You're kidding, right? I was able to dodge bullets effortlessly with this! The guy shooting should be more careful, though, he nearly shot the person he had teamed up with."  
Derek raised his eyebrows, "How did that happen? I thought you were devoted to not hurting people."

Valerie nodded "He was about to, but I tranquilized him before he actually did it."

Derek raised his eyebrow, "Really?"

Valerie nodded, before taking out the two guns she had, "Yeah, thanks for the darts, by the way. They are easily the best thing you've given me."

Derek grinned, "No problem. You have to give them back every day though, you can't be carrying an unlicensed tranquilizer gun. Besides, I'm thinking of getting you an upgrade."

Valerie's eyes glittered, "Really? What do you have in mind?"

Derek smirked, "I'm still working on it. You'll see it when I finish. In the meantime, go to sleep, Vee, I've gotta file a report tomorrow and I still have a ton of work left."

Valerie shrugged before going out into the rest of the apartment. Aside from the workshop, there were two bedrooms and a kitchen, all very badly kept. She went into her room. It was incredibly messy, decorated with bullseye targets and stacks of cans. It was kinda like a carnival, decorated with brightly coloured posters and games. A massive Jenga game was set up in the middle of the room, each decorated uniquely. A hammock was tied up in the corner, angled to look at the TV, which had been completely surrounded by horror games. She opened her wardrobe and pulled her Dark Fox costume onto the mannequin inside. It consisted of a black and red cloak that reached her feet, dark ripped jeans and a red jacket covering a black shirt. Black glasses covered most of her face, simultaneously hiding her identity and serving as a controller for the warp tech her brother had created. She brushed her hair as she looked out towards the NYC skyline, it really was amazing. She sighed as she flipped open her tablet, working on her weekly assignment for school. When she finally fell asleep, it was well past midnight, probably three o'clock


	2. The outside

She woke up at eleven o'clock, like always, and ambled over to the main room to get breakfast. Derek was dashing around, picking up last minute items and looked up when she came in, "Hi Vee. I need to go to work now. You can go outside for as long as you want, just remember to hide your tail..."

"Wear my cap, grab a responsible lunch following the diet the doctor gave me and no chasing cats." Valerie recited in a bored half-amused tone.

"Don't take off your collar and drop your coursework over at the school. No standing up for kids getting bullied, the last one is still in the hospital. I'm aiming for my first full-time job so don't mess it up." Derek said, referencing the yellow and orange collar around her neck. Valerie completely ignored it, she was always wearing the collar.

Valerie groaned, "I can't just sit by and watch kids get beat up for no reason. Contrary to popular belief, I have a conscience. Plus, it's not my fault they get hurt so bad, I see red."

Derek rolled his eyes, "Then don't see red. It's not a viable excuse anymore. Besides, from personal experience, the kid getting beat up probably deserves it." Valerie pouted, making the sad puppy eyes. Derek face-palmed, "Fine, you can sort him out. But make sure you don't hit him too hard. And don't give the first punch, you won't be given that much leniency if you're caught."

Valerie saluted, "Aye, Aye, Derek. By the way, aren't you late?" Derek yelled in surprise and ran off with his stuff. Valerie looked around, before shrugging and pulling sausages out off the freezer. She was lucky her diet was one that could actually be enjoyed. She boiled some eggs, had her sausages and grabbed some toast before going back to her room. She turned on her tablet, looking for things to do. She slowly added a location on a list of operations to crash. She put on her red and black hoodie and carefully pulled her tail through a hole in her worn out jeans and then picked up one of her bags, which had a hole in the back connected to a secret pocket, and tucked her tail into it. She brushed out her hair, then put her headphones on and connected them to her phone. They didn't cover her ears because of their odd placement, but her sensitive hearing made then work. She made her way downstairs and out of the apartment building where she lived before taking a breath and stepping out into the day. She blinked a few times before adjusting to the light. She barely ever came outside in the daytime. As she learned to manage her abilities better, Derek encouraged her to spend more and more time out of doors, but she could never seem to enjoy bright sunlight very much. She sighed and walked down the streets, nodding her head to the tune of her favorite song. Her first stop was the tech store near her house. It was a small place, but it sold basically anything connected to computers. She trusted it the most out of every store around. She bought a game and quickly exited. She preferred to be in the crowds outside, all the better to blend in and generally avoided areas with less crowds. She got the groceries and just looking around wherever she went. She still was getting used to how different everything looked in the day. She remained close to Brooklyn, despite being allowed to go to Queens as well. She went to the school Derek had written down and given her coursework. After her accident, Derek was constantly afraid of people freaking out when they saw her enhancements, so he took any means necessary to make sure she didn't have to be thought of as a monster.

She was back in her apartment before she even knew it, turns out that she really preferred to stay inside, with a baloney sandwich in her hand. Come tonight and she'd be Dark Fox. She looked around the living room, it was still surrounded in the clutter of last night, which meant Derek wasn't back. She walked into her room and pulled back a Pokemon poster, to reveal a corkboard with newspaper cuttings and USBs hung around, connected by red string. A nearby to-do list pointed out operations that needed to be busted. Most of them were connected to the project she had caught yesterday, they had struck up a deal at some point. She hummed as she looked down the list -she called it a list but it had like five entries in it- before something caught her eye. Reports of smuggled vibranium weapons, possibly linking back to Ulysses Klaue, the smugglers she had caught had apparently bought weapons from there. She was not a big fan of vibranium herself. One of her powers were magnetic field detection, it was how she could effortlessly hit every target in darkness. Her night vision helped too in that part. Vibranium, however, wasn't magnetic so she couldn't detect it She couldn't just stick around and do nothing, though, she had to strike. She was the Dark Fox, for God's sake! She was going to scope the place out like always, it didn't matter that it was dangerous. Her life would always be dangerous. She paused in front of the pile of games she had and pulled on her VR headset. Operations could wait for night, she was still a kid.

The sun had just set when Derek walked into their apartment, clutching a case, "Vee! I'm home!" he called out. Inside her room, Valerie groaned as she got stabbed by a haunted dog from a video game cartridge. She pulled of her VR headset and sauntered out to see Derek.

"Hey! How was your day? Did you get me some new gear?" She said eagerly.

Derek raised his eyebrows at her utter lack of of subtlety but shook it off, of course she was excited. She hadn't got a tech upgrade since last year's birthday, when she got her warp tech. "Have you done the dishes?" He asked.

Valerie laughed sheepishly, "Let me get back to you..." and quickly walked out.

Ten minutes later she smugly walked into his lab, "Done!" she says brightly, "Now can I see it?" (another great little scene that really shows their complex dynamic)

Derek nodded, "Why not?" he popped open his case to reveal several gadgets. He held up the first gun, its barrel was thicker and shorter than usual and with a larger grip. "Flare gun," he explained, "To draw attention to the area without being seen." Valerie nodded, her tranquilizer guns were designed more like handguns then rifles, but they were very incriminating if she ever got caught, so catching other's attention from afar was much more appealing. Derek pulled out the next one, a thick black rod, slightly like a cuboid, with two metal fangs. A red fox symbol was imprinted on it. Valerie had no idea what it could be. Thankfully, Derek was there to explain, "It's a taser. The teeth shoot out and electrocute the guy till he faints. Or you can plunge it into his neck and electrocute him then."

Valerie looked at it closely, "So it has both long-range and short-range settings? Brilliant! How does it work?"

"They're attached to the sunglasses I've updated. Wink your left eye for long-range and wink your right for short-range. Tap the sides to take pictures and hold them to take a video. When in dire need, it will automatically open a connection between us." Derek said smoothly, he loved it when Valerie got hyped up for new gear. He pulled out a canister colored red with black flames. "A smoke bomb? Why are you putting something I could get very easily from the shops in a case containing weapons and other high-tech gear?" Valerie asked curiously.

"This isn't any ordinary smoke bomb. It contains a tiny projector, that will show your silhouette and cause a distraction while you knock the guys out." Derek said smugly. Valerie whistled, impressed. Useful. "So anyways, where will you go tonight?" Derek asked.

"I'm thinking of scoping out this place, apparently they sell vibranium weaponry. Other types of black-market arms as well, but most importantly, vibranium." Valerie explained.

Derek nodded in understanding, "Where did you get the information?"

Valerie shrugged, "I looked through their security footage, found the license plate of the car that delivered the weaponry and traced it to find out it belongs to this area and a person already involved in the situation. Well, the DMV did but its the best I got."

Derek looked over then tossed her a gun, "Take this, for emergencies." Valerie caught it and carefully looked it over for odd features.

"A handgun? You know I never kill." Valerie said.

Derek nodded, "For the more dangerous missions, just in case. Besides, where is this place?"

Valerie thought back for a second, "Queens, really close to Brooklyn. It's in the basements of one of the apartment buildings there."

Derek mulled it over for a few seconds, "Okay. As long as you're back by one AM. You need to go to the doctor tonight, next morning, you get the idea. Oh and take this." He handed her a leather belt with loops in it and a dark red mask with a cat face, to further obscure her face.

Valerie regarded it closely, "What's it for?"

"To make you harder to identify, well the mask is. The belt is to make things easier to carry. The tranquilizer guns you keep in-hand, the rest of it should be kept here." Derek explained.

"Cool." Valerie said. She was turning to go before Derek stopped her.

"What have you had for dinner?" he asked worriedly.

Valerie shook her head resignedly, "A sandwich or two and some fish and chips." Derek sighed, annoyed, "That's not enough. You can't survive on an ordinary amount of food for more than half a day. Wait here, I'll fix something up." with that, he charged into the kitchen. Valerie groaned and washed back into her room. Dinner could take a while, but she could kill time. She put on her suit and clicked on her warp tech. The thing consisted mainly of wire framework, strapped to her hands (Which had small buttons to trigger the warp process), elbows, shoulders, waist, knees, feet and converging on the orange and yellow collar around her neck. From there, two thin wires snaked up to her reflective glasses, which allowed her to choose where to warp to, provided it was visible. She tied the utility belt around her waist and tucked the Taser in her back pocket. Her tail wagged excitedly as she prepared for a scope mission. She shoved a few canisters of smoke bombs into the loops, along with refill darts for her tranquilizer guns. The flare gun was also kept in a back pocket. She fastened her cloak and walked out into the main room. Derek was setting a huge pot of soup on the table. Valerie quickly pulled out bowls and spoons and slicing boiled eggs. They ate mostly in silence, Derek taking small measured bites and Valerie quickly scarfing down the lot. You couldn't really blame her, she had enhanced metabolism and needed a lot of food. After she finished her third bowl she put it in the sink and waved good-bye to Derek, "I'll be back by one AM." she promised.

Derek grinned, "Alright, take care and good luck!"

Valerie went back into her room to put on her mask, usually she didn't put the cloak and glasses on until she reached the place, but this time she was gonna have some fun on the way. She went to the roof of her building, looking around at her brightly lit surroundings. She stood in top of the railing, stretching out her tail to balance herself. Then she zeroed into the roof of the building across the road, selecting her new location then she clenched her fists and took a leap of faith. Valerie was airborne for half a minute, and it was invigorating. She had been practicing with the warp tech and this was something she really wanted to try. Her warp tech was a few seconds late and she landed shakily on the building she had selected. Thankfully, though, she hadn't been falling for long enough to hit the roof with enough force to be injured. She gave a shaky laugh as she relaxed, "That... was epic!" she cheered quietly. She looked over the street figuring out where her destination was, probably ten blocks away from what she could see. She selected a ledge on a building across the busy main road then clenched her hands and ran forward, adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream. She had just gone over the edge of the roof when she warped over to the ledge. She let out a breath and stared at a lamppost down the street in an alley and warped there, she landed a little less shakily, her tail quickly helping her balance. She slowed her breathing and grabbed the pole to hang from it, then started swinging to build up speed, all the time not breaking her gaze from an internet tower a few blocks away. At the very height of the arc, she let go, warping straight to the internet tower in Queens. She let out a breath as she slid down, flying through the air like that gave her a rush she had never felt before, this was probably why Spiderman was always swinging around.

She pinpointed the address and silently looked closer. The suspected basement had a small window that she carefully looked into. She could see one room, it was small and had some bags in the corner. A few cartons and crates were there too. She couldn't see anyone inside, but they were probably in the other room, the one with the light on that she could see through the half open door. She slid the window open and took a deep breath. While she had a pretty decent sense of hearing and sight, her sense of smell was the best. While she would never admit this to anyone, she could easily identify a person by their scent, the same applied to many different things. So when she she quickly breathed in, she caught just a whiff of something spicy and earthy, sharp and grainy, a smell she had come to associate with vibranium. Granted, it was very light, if she hadn't known what she was looking for, she wouldn't have found it. Valerie wasn't very used to dealing with vibranium smugglers but she had dealt with them enough times to identify one of the few metals which you could smell. The smell wasn't detectable by normal humans, though, and she herself had to concentrate to pick it up. She carefully warped onto the pile of bags and crates. With the bad lighting and the way she cowered behind a suitcase, she wasn't very noticeable. On the other hand, this vantage point gave her the perfect view of the other room. Three men were there, poring over a map in a barren room with only three chairs and a table. A small shelf and a cupboard was there as well. She silently moved to a small metal case and opened it, clicking pictures for everything. Inside the case were small blue bullets, that were obviously made from vibranium. She took some pictures before shutting the case and turning to a crate that hadn't been sealed yet, she saw a machine gun, rifles, grenade launchers, none of them were vibranium but still they were incredibly destructive. This had to be dealt with quickly.

She peeked back into the room with the three men- there appeared to be no door, that meant the exit was on this side. She saw the door almost immediately beside the pile of bags and crates and cautiously opened it. There was a well-kept stairwell that led upwards. Valerie shut the door and carefully walked to the upper floor, Taser at the ready in case she was apprehended. She came out in a parking lot, a feature that she had been aware of being very uninvolved with the operation. She looked around before going back downstairs to the room with the weapons and from there she warped out of the room and next to the window she had entered through. She needed to check out the second room, but there were people in there. She reached for her phone and looked through her recordings before finally selecting one. Seconds later, a police siren sounded, alerting the people inside and causing them to quickly cover up the operation, lock up the door and rush up the stairs. Valerie warped back into the weapon storage room and looked through the shafts of the locked door. There was no glass covering the door, that meant she could easily warp inside start snapping photos. She opened the cupboard and looked inside, some forms was kept there. She didn't have time to read through then all, but she saw a logo of a skull with tentacles while she scanned the first one. She skimmed through the other documents but they mostly consisted of lists of arms they were dealing. She scanned all of them and carefully rearranged the scene and checked for security cameras before leaving the room. She warped up to the window connected to the base and carefully stood on her hands as she chose her next position. She kicked off and somersaulted through the air before vanishing. On the street corner there was a lamppost, Valerie had warped to it, grabbing the pole before she fell. She waited for a few seconds before letting the pole go, and landing in an alley down the street, she straightened up and took out her phone. 10 o'clock, pretty good time. In fact, she had three more hours before the appointment. No problem, she thought, grinning to herself, she had plenty of ways to kill time.

** Author note: what do you think of the second chapter? Please give me any feedback, it is really appreciated. Something bigger is at play here, so keep your eyes open for subtle hints. Thanks for reading!**


	3. The arcade: the lull before a storm

Valerie stepped off the subway to the middle of Brooklyn, with a destination in mind. She went to an arcade that had been her favourite haunt for quite a while. But she didn't enter the arcade. She went straight to the back door, which had a poster on it that said, "Midnight gaming wars! Open every night, highest bet thirty dollars." and entered through there. The back door of the arcade led to a moderately sized room with off-white walls. A speaker system was plugged into to a corner. A large flat screen TV had been set up on one wall, a Wii attached to it. A large plate weighed down by a painted rock was on the table, various coins and dollar bills scattered over it, and several unclaimed controllers resting beside it. Four other people were there as well, but Valerie only recognized one person. She had short spiky brown hair with purple streaks, black eyes, and tattoos scattered all over her arms. Tonight she wore a Kingdom Hearts t-shirt, tight hotpants that Val could never look good in and her usual green visor. She walked up to her and shook her hand, "Hey, Danielle, how're things? What's up today?"

Danielle shrugged, "Exactly the same as always, unlike you. My life never changes, my brothers think that we should bring in another game on the roster, but they can't agree with which one. Personally, I'd go with Splatoon, but it's not like they'll listen. Anyways, this time, because of the vote you _missed_" Dani said significantly, "we're playing Mario kart."

Valerie nodded, "Thanks! I'd _definitely_ go with Splatoon. I wish I was you, it must be exciting living with seven cousins and two brothers!"

Danielle rolled her eyes, "How? You're a superhero. No annoying little kids _and_ you get to be a teenage vigilante. It's a win-win!"

Valerie looked around hurriedly, "Keep it down! No ones supposed to know!"

Dani laughed sheepishly before whispering, "Sorry. I'm not good at keeping something this big to myself."

Valerie shrugged, "Doesn't matter. But if your brothers need persuasion for the Splatoon thing, give me a call. We both know they've got a crush on me. Anyways, I've been meaning to a ask you if I can get a job at your arcade. Need to save up for a Switch."

Danielle nodded, "I'll see what I can do. But if you've still got your working papers we'll have no trouble. Now show 'em who's boss!"

Valerie nodded, turned around and headed to the table at the front. Then she picked up a controller before dropping a twenty dollar note into the plate, possibly the highest bet placed. That got everyone's attention. "I say twenty. Can we start this round, now?"

Three hours later, she was thirty dollars richer. She wasn't awesome at Mario kart, that's why it took the better part of three hours to get thirty dollars more but she liked to think of herself as decent at it. She walked the rest of the way to her apartment, the trip mostly uneventful . . . mostly. She was passing through an unlit back alley that was a shortcut to her place when she heard a figure walking toward her. The fact that he smelt like a brewery was enough to confirm her suspicions, but she turned around to look at the slightly swaying man anyways. He gave her a drunken grin, "Hey, foxy, you new around here?"

Her only reaction was to continue walking to her destination. The man grabbed her shoulder, "Hey, sweetie, don't be like that. Just grab a few drinks with me! It'll be the must fun you're ever gonna have!" the drunk continued, his words slurring.

Valerie froze, "You know, I was gonna let you off easy. But the second you opened your mouth, you were done," she said quietly, before swinging around and hitting him squarely on the jaw. She could've sworn she hadn't hit too hard, but the creep staggered back on contact, mouth bloody, instantly falling in a dead faint, face-first onto some half-full trash bags. Valerie blinked, she had lost control of herself. . . again. She looked the guy over for any major damage but he just seemed asleep, even suddenly snoring, shocking her from her worry. She sighed with relief and quickly ran off. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. The quickest route was through here, and some pubs were too, which meant lots of guys tried to chat her up. She usually ignored them or rejected them in her usual sarcastic manner. Sometimes, though, someone would say something really stupid, like treat her as if she was an easily seduced baby then they were in for it. She didn't even bother pointing out how creepy it was that they thought she would enter a bar, since she didn't look anywhere near twenty one. She walked up the stairs of the building she lived in and found the place nearly spotless. Valerie didn't understand what was with Derek and places being spotless- his lab was the messiest room in the apartment. Derek looked up from his laptop when she knocked on the door-frame of said lab, "Oh, hey, Vee, you're here. Get ready, we're leaving for your appointment in twenty minutes. Meet me downstairs." He said all this nervously - he was always nervous before an appointment. Sometimes she wondered why - she never minded them too much, so why should he? Valerie put her hero suit back and stowed away her weapons under the bed. She grabbed her phone in case she had time to look through the pictures she had gathered, and she probably did, considering how far away it was. Then she put on a hoodie and walked down to the parking lot where Derek was. He was nervously twiddling his thumbs but grinned when she showed up, "All set? Let's go." She nodded in response and slid into the back seat, entirely focused on the pictures she had taken now displayed on her phone. The first few were pictures of weapons, stuff she had already seen, but would come in handy later. The next were panoramic pictures of each room to get the layout of the area. The last ones were scans of the forms she'd found in the cupboard. They were records of weapons, where they had got them from and a hint at a money laundering scheme. The last one was what peaked her interest, it was the only order form she had found in the entire place. She supposed they were one of the few smart ones, and had burnt their used forms. It mentioned grenade launchers, rifles, vibranium bullets and an unknown substance written in a mostly illegible scrawl. The whole order was listed to. . . HYDRA." Her blood ran cold, HYDRA was far and away beyond her level. She had never faced anyone, or any organization with their kind of strength before, much less their reputation for merciless evil- this was bad. Very, very bad. Derek never really had a problem with her going out and fighting crime after she'd pushed hard enough. He had gotten cold feet the first time she was shot, but she had convinced him to let her continue. Ever since then he had given her a list of rules she had to follow:

1\. Stay away from HYDRA and anything connected to it.

2\. Stay away from the Avengers.

3\. Don't be seen.

4\. Don't be caught on tape.

5\. Hide all things related to Dark Fox, just in case.

6\. Don't stick out, learn to be normal.

She mentally went through her options. Her ordinary approach was very obviously breaking rule one. She could tip off the Avengers, but that would break rule two, and if she continued the strike against the weapons place, she was still breaking rule one. Her head hurt - thinking about disappointing Derek, who only wanted what's best for her, made shivers run down her neck. She thought back to those bullets, they were specialized ones. If she didn't do something, a lot of people were about to die. Vibranium was so unstable, it wasn't safe with HYDRA. _Nothing_ was safe with HYDRA. She thought back to the unknown substance, what could it be? She looked again at the blurry scrawl in the photo. She could partially make out at least six of the letters, three of which were definitely a's. There was what she thought might be an m, and a possible n on either side of one a, and an m at the end, so, optimistically, it spelled, a_aman_m. Before she could figure out any more, Derek stopped the car, "We're here, let's go," he said, sharply, his nervousness not abated at all by the drive over. Valerie nodded and climbed out. They were in the suburbs, outside a modest house. There was a collie walking around the yard who walked up to Derek for a pat on its head. Valerie hated dogs, so when Derek bent down to coo over it she went to the door to ring the bell. An old woman around her early fifties opened the door. She smiled when she saw Valerie, "Oh, hello dear. Is your... brother here?"

Valerie nodded, "He's petting your dog. DEREK GET OVER HERE!" she called over to him. Derek looked up and walked over to the two.

The woman smiled ruefully, "Hello, Derek. How nice to see you again. Lets start her check up, shall we?" She led them through the hall to a sterilized doctor's office. It had a bed, some charts about Darwinian evolution and hybridization. A dentist's chair was in the middle of the room and a section had been put aside for eye testing. Valerie was used to the procedure and hopped onto the bed. The woman bent down, "Left ear check," she said as she shone a torch into her ear. Valerie turned her ear around, then repeated the action with her right ear. (**A/N: Valerie has only one pair of ears. I know the avatar wears headphones like a normal person, but in the last chapter I mentioned her enhanced hearing compensated for that. I mean can you imagine her trying to put earphones in like that? And considering how big they are, what if ear buds go into her inner ear and hit the ear drum?**) "Your ears look good. How's your tail?"

Valerie twirled it around, "Good, never better."

The woman nodded, "That's great. Have you been following your diet?"

"Yup." She replied, popping her lips, bored with this series of too-often-repeated questions.

"Wonderful. Now just let me check your eyesight, take a blood test and give you a shot then you're done."

Valerie nodded and the woman took out an ophthalmoscope. She pressed it near her eye and a purple light shone out from it. The color changed first into green then orange then blue. The colors changed faster and faster until they blurred together. She thought she could see a fuzzy red-tinted image where she was curled up in a cell, surrounded by faceless men, one of those men was standing close to her cell, he had a lab coat and black hair. Everything was so fuzzy and confusing, the only thing she was certain of seeing was the skull with four tentacles enclosed in a circle. In a second, the image was gone. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. This happened during every test. Derek and the doctor woman said that they had to use a special ophthalmoscope for her, but her fox genes didn't seem to react well with it. Derek said that the ordinary one was more painful, so she didn't argue. Strange hallucinations were better than pain. She let the woman take a blood sample and let her inject a substance into her bloodstream. They'd had to increase her shots, lately. They were to counteract the effects of the adrenocorticotropic hormone that filled her bloodstream whenever she was even slightly didn't mind them - they kept her from snapping at every little thing. She didn't pay attention to anyone as she walked back to the car in a daze. All she could think about was HYDRA. She didn't understand why, but the very name filled her with anger- well, it would, if she hadn't been injected with something to stop her getting angry- and all she wanted to do was destroy it, or at least slow it's progress. There was no doubt about it, she was gonna stop that delivery. Derek smiled back at her, "Vee? Are you ok?" he asked carefully, he was always much nicer after an appointment-as though she was a time bomb. She looked up and nodded before falling silent again. Derek left her alone, probably thinking she was too loopy from the shots to be very talkative.

When they returned home, Valerie rushed into the privacy of her room and opened the image of the HYDRA form. It said that the transaction was taking place on fourth of June 2019. Three days from now. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to let the arms dealers off until after she crashed the transaction. Until then, she needed a plan. She was still missing some information, mainly the location and the transportation. She sighed, she was always tired after a visit to the doctor, she'd have to sleep on the problem.

Soon after she woke up at one , she had formulated a plan. Derek had already gone to work, so she helped herself to porridge, sausages and toast before sneaking into his lab. She opened his computer and logged in. A little digging around in the criminal records of the three men she had captured on camera via the facial recognition software in Derek's computer revealed they had connections to five other criminals. She seemed to be on the track of something, so she went to the DMV- it took must of the day but it was crucial for her plan- which revealed that among the eight, six cars were owned. Two were tiny cars that couldn't fit the weaponry, three were large vans perfect for this sort of thing. The last turned out to be a bike. It took several rounds of Pokémon battles to think of the perfect solution to the location problem. She could just put a tracker onto each van. She was able to found some trackers in Derek's lab and had helped herself.

Two days had passed and Valerie was getting more tense by the second. She had prepared and planned meticulously and now there was no backing down. She was afraid that Derek might have noticed something, but he had been wrapped up in work projects. It was nine-forty-five at night, nearly an hour and a half before the transaction was due. Fortunately, Derek was working late tonight, so she had ordered a large pizza and nearly finished it. She would have eaten it all but Derek would be hungry too, and after late nights he didn't feel like making breakfast either. She sighed and rubbed her hands, to prepare herself. She missed having all the time in the world to talk with her brother, nowadays he was so busy, and she wasn't comfortable talking to Danielle about her life very much either.

She went back into her room and took out her weapons. This time, she wasn't holding back, and took everything she could find that had highly destructive capabilities. That including shoving a bottle of air freshener and a lighter into her utility belt, it had been her first weapon when she became Dark Fox, so bringing it now had a nice sentiment as well.. Her Taser was charged so she stuck it in the pocket of her jeans, her flare gun was to be left at home because she couldn't see much use for it in this mission. That and she had a finite number of loops in her belt. Her two tranquilizer guns were ready, refills of darts were already stored in her belt, and a pouch full of smoke bombs hung from her belt next to them. She slid on her warp tech, plugged it into her collar and put on her sunglasses, her pupils easily dilating to make up for the darkness. Next, she pulled out a loose floorboard from underneath her bed and pulled out a jar of colorless sweet-smelling liquid, chloroform. She wanted to lower the chances of her victims waking up before she was gone, so she had decided to douse pieces of cloth in the sedative and tie it around their noses. She lifted her phone to check on the locations of the vans. They were heading to one specific area by the looks of it. She didn't have time to think about anything, especially not the tingling sensation that was intensifying by the minute. All she could think of was the arsenal of weapons that was gonna be in Hydra's possession if she didn't move against them. And she would die before she let that happen.


	4. Mission gone wrong: Roadkill

Valerie - or should I say, Dark Fox- teleported over the roofs of buildings as fast as she could. She had no time to lose. She was running faster than she ever had before, to cover more ground between warps, and nearly two miles passed, before she paused to catch her breath. She flipped her phone open and checked the tracker. The vans were converging in Manhattan. She switched to the messaging app and opened Danielle's contact. Hey, Dani. Meet me in the alley beside your arcade. D.F." D.F. was code for, 'Need you for superhero stuff.' She was three minutes away, if she hurried. Time was of the essence. She took a few deep breaths and twisted her ears around to listen for any followers, her tail swished excitedly. She picked up nothing, and so, continued on her way to her best friend's house.

Danielle fidgeted anxiously in the alley. She had been assigned a break at the time of Valerie's text, but it was kinda hard to not get missed by fourteen relatives in a relatively small townhouse that connected to an arcade. She kept glancing around and listened as hard as she could, but when chillingly casual, "Hey!" sounded she jumped violently. She looked up to see Dark Fox sliding down a support beam for a fire escape. "Don't do that! You scared me!" she whispered crossly.

Valerie pulled off her mask and tugged the hood of her cloak down, "Sorry. I've gotten into a habit of staying quiet."

Danielle sighed, "What do you want this urgently? It sounded important."

Valerie nodded, "Yeah, it is. I've got this really dangerous mission I can't talk to you about. But I was hoping you could help me get to Manhattan in an hour, hopefully less."

Danielle thought for a second, "Ryan's motorbike is free, if that's what you want. Hold on, I'll ask him." she said before whipping out her phone and typing something. Valerie checked the tracker again while the siblings texted an agreement. Danielle smiled, "Idiot. He thinks you asking to ride his bike means that you can tolerate him. Didn't even realize you're three years away from being allowed to drive. Anyways, let me go get the keys." then she immediately ducked into the staff room.

Dark Fox grinned as she came back seconds later with a bunch of keys. "If I don't call tomorrow morning. Get the police. Now, do you know where Ryan's bike is?"

Danielle nodded and led her to a motorbike parked near the arcade. "There. And Valerie? If you mess this up, I'll never let you live that down."

Dark Fox nodded grimly and quickly drove off. No time to waste. Nearly half an hour of driving like a crazy person later, she was nearly five blocks away from the venue. The tingling in her neck had intensified to a constant prickling buzz. The trucks, which had been aimlessly driving around the area had finally settled and that's where she was going. But she parked the bike here, best to keep it out of harm's way. She looked around to see if she had garnered any unwanted attention, then she smoothed her tail out and repositioned her mask and hood. She half climbed and half warped up to a roof. She had no real need to teleport, the buildings were built barely a two feet apart, so she ran the distance. Then she skidded to a halt as she was faced with a thoroughfare. She checked her phone; the exchange was taking place across the street, a few blocks down. She flattened her ears as the tingling sparked pain down her spine. She had to ask Derek to look into it. Her tail swung around her legs and she exhaled, backed a few paces and, eyes still fixed on the roof opposite the one she was on, she charged. She had one foot off the roof when the warp effect started. She was zapped forward, but not far enough. She was left suspended- for a few terrifying seconds- a hundred and twenty feet above the thoroughfare. Then she screwed her eyes shut when she began to fall. Then a pop sounded and she found her feet touching down in something solid. She cautiously opened her eyes and blinked when she realized she was on the roof that she had chosen before. She brought her hands to her head to check her ears. Ears; still there, tail; still there, everything else; there. She wasn't splattered on the road! She shook herself away from her jubilation and thought about the malfunction. She had warped greater distances before. So what had happened? Then it clicked: The area restriction. Derek could get extremely neglectful, there were barely any unreasonable rules. He must not want her to stray away because her warp tech was wirelessly linked to a server in his lab (This she knew, it just never occurred to her it might stop working outside her allowed area.)

Glad to solve that mystery, she ran two blocks until she reached the alley where the transaction was taking place. A group of men were talking, many were holding guns. She carefully came down on the other side of the building and silently snuck around to get a look at the deal. The plan was simple: She would sneak onto the first truck and hijack it. Then she would crash into the other two and, hopefully, create a big enough crash to call 911. Then make sure the weapons are handed to the authorities. She saw one of the men tilt their head towards her hiding spot. She ducked behind a car, then crawled under it. 'Thank god I'm not as big as most kids.' She thought. The men continued with their transaction, she could hear some hushed whispers if she strained, but the conversation was nearly completely masked by everyday New York. So she pieced together a plan. It was a difficult situation, and she was severely underinformed. She shifted her position, trying to get comfortable with her tail being squashed. Then it sparked, 'I can roll under the first van when it passes. Then I'll break a hole into the back of the van so I can warp inside.' Hopefully it'll still work at close range. She had come so far, she wasn't gonna give up now. The shadowy men climbed into the vans. The other group left, this was apparently the handoff. She waited for the rumbling of the engine, then winced as the smell of car fumes washed over her. Her ears flattened involuntarily, and she almost missed the boarding point. But she pulled herself together and rolled over, under the van- getting her tail wound around her legs in the process- and grabbed the pipes under the van, and wedged herself securely. Super Agility always rocked. She stared at the metal surface, her magnetic senses tingling sharply. She focused them to figure out where there was the least metal. It took some time to figure out, especially with all the pressure, but she figured it out. She tightened her grip on the metal with her left hand and both feet, then slowly shifted her right hand back to punch the spot where it was the thinnest. She thumped her fist against the metal as hard as she could. No dice. "Damn." she whispered, there wasn't enough room for her to build up the momentum it took her to swing her weighty arms in a punch at her normal rate. She licked her 'fangs', metal replacements for her canines that she had been given because of her lack of canines, some of her fillings had been done with the same material. She stretched her jaws wide, then scraped the underside of the van with her fangs, before biting it with as much force as possible. The lack of a grip to bite meant she couldn't rip out a chunk, but the bite got enough metal away and weakened the rest to be able to punch a hole through it. With a peephole into the van, she concentrated on her breaths, trying to pick up signs of life. Nothing, thank goodness. Closing her eyes and entrusting her safety to every higher power there was, she locked on to the interior of the truck and clenched her fists to activate the warp tech. A zap the slight swooping feeling in the pit of her stomach, then nothing. She cautiously opened her eyes. Dark Fox was lying spread-eagled on top of the ton of ammunition she was supposed to be stopping. She jumped up, carefully avoiding getting in range of the window at the front of the storage space and connected with the driver's cabin. Her ears flattened, the amount of metal in this tiny space was unbelievable, especially how much of it was actually magnetic. Just to be sure, she pulled out her pocketknife, then slit a box open to peek at the guns inside. Yup, definitely real. She decided to risk it and look into the driver's cabin. Three people were there, Valerie couldn't even wrap her head around how they all managed to fit in the confined place with enough room to still shoot her head and drive, but now really wasn't the time. One was a driver, the other two were obviously guards. One of them carried a rifle or something but she couldn't be certain due to all the people and changing lighting as they zipped past lamposts. She snuck a peek at the back of the loading door at the back. There was a little sliding notch there, probably to see out. She quickly maneuvered her way around the boxes, trying to stop her tail from banging into stuff as she tried to perfect balance. She looked out into the gloom of the road. It appeared they were heading to a less crowded area, probably out of the city. The other two vans were right behind her still in formation. Time for Phase 2: Crash. She pulled out a smoke bomb, her ears on high alert. She pulled the pin and tossed it in the cabin. If these goons were stupid enough to not notice she snuck in, this would catch them off guard. She waited for it to properly set off. Nothing happened. A small thud outside the van caught her ears' attention and she felt the fur on her ears and tail bristle. She snuck a glance at the back of the van, sure enough, the smoke bomb was there. She saw it for only a quick second, but it looked like it had already shown the projection and now was only dispelling remaining smoke. She turned back and eavesdropped on the conversation in the cabin. Complete silence. What the hell? Weren't they gonna investigate where it came from? Or report it? Or... Anything? Her ears narrowed back. It couldn't be... She didn't... Who was she kidding, she definitely walked into a trap. She looked around the van, finally taking in the noticeable lack of cramped surroundings, like someone wanted her to have as much space as necessary. Her heart rate increased. At first gradually, but soon pounding in her ears like she had run a marathon. Her tail felt like a limp sack and suddenly she was all too aware of the sweat that was dripping off her face. She took quick short breaths, trying to get a hold of herself. It wasn't that bad, she might get out of this alive just yet. She carefully got her breathing into control and then squeezed her eye into the hole she bit into the van and tried to warp out. She fizzled a little, and ended up with her face squashed against the floor. Ugh, she was too far away from whatever processor that was connected to her warp tech. HYDRA was good, she knew that but she couldn't believe how good they were until now. She was so doomed. The van suddenly stopped, and Dark Fox froze up. All her senses were on high alert, ready to fight whoever tried to get in. Her ears twitched and moved toward the sound of gates clanging open. The van started moving again and she remained tense. She slowly pulled out her handgun and made sure it was loaded as the van reversed into what she presumed was a parking spot or a loading bay. She held the gun at the ready, aimed towards the back door, waiting for someone to come. Her tail twitched impatiently, and her eyes dilated even more. Someone unlocked the door, her ears picked it up. Her nose sensed something slightly familiar. Like she had smelt it before. She waited for the door to open, her hand on the trigger. The door slowly, meticulously, opened, as though the person on the other side loved the stress they were putting her through. Finally however, the gates parted, giving her a clear shot of his head. But she didn't shoot, she couldn't shoot. It was like her body had frozen, finally staring at the face of her probable killer and unable to do anything. Her eyes watered as she looked at his familiar face, "Derek?!" she asked in shaky disbelief.

The young man Valerie knew to be her brother smiled apologetically at her and lifted up a remote, then pressed down on it. The jolts of pain that were running through her spine increased tenfold. She felt like she was on fire. Her tail bristled and all her hair stood on edge. She let out a gut-wrenching scream, and she collapsed forward with a yelp. The dark-haired man picked her up with her arms and dragged her out of the van. People were already milling about, unloading the weaponry, taking stock and loading up the next cars to the real drop off point. He tossed the small black-haired figure into a room made entirely of cement. There were no window's, no bars, nothing. Just a metal reinforced door and a single shaft from the ventilation system and even that bolted down securely from the inside. Nothing was getting the Dark Fox out. There was silence for some time, nothing moved, no sound was made, except for the occasional sparking from the collar around Valerie's neck.


	5. The Avengers (Dun Dun Dun!)

Five agents rushed back and forth, picking up crates and moving them to another part of the facility, when the lights cut. Everyone froze and a few guards pulled out their guns and flashlights. Suddenly, someone gave a strangled scream and fell. The torches immediately went to a guy, who was lying on the floor, with an arrow through his eye and bleeding out fast. A walkie-talkie crackled and a guy whispered into it, "We need support. Leave the kid. Something's got inside, no idea- ARGH!" he made a choking sound and collapsed as an arrow went through his throat. "Goddammit. Where is he?" one of them muttered, waving his torch like a lightsaber. Another arrow plunged into his arm. But this one was different, it was beeping. The guard pulled the arrow out and stared at it for a few seconds before it exploded. The blast was huge, for such a tiny a tiny arrow, it immediately killed the remaining three agents. Once the smoke settled, a man in his 30's with brown hair and a black suit ducked out from behind a pillar of boxes. He carried a bow and held a quiver full of arrows on his back. "Hey guys, I'm all clear here." he said into his comm, "Are you done too?" there was a pause, "All right, I've gotten to the cells. One of them is occupied, should I get them out?" Another pause, then he ducked behind the box column again and sent another exploding arrow at the locked door. It didn't stand a chance. When he came out, the door was missing one half. He crept inside and called out, "Hey, anyone there?" No reply, so he shines around his torch until he spots something wrapped in a black cloth. It was the size of a small person stuffed into a sack, but a tail was poking out of one end. "What the hell..." the man murmured as he edged closer to the thing. He quickly turned the bundle around to get a better look to see a kid with black hair and red tips, her face was concealed with glasses and a mask and she was dressed in a black shirt and dark blue jeans. Most importantly, she had the tail of a fox and ears similar to that of a fox a couple inches above where an ordinary person's ears would be. The guy inhaled sharply, "Guys, they had an enhanced. She's out cold, what do I do with her?" he whispered into the comm then waited, obviously listening to the conversation on the other end, "Look, I don't know. Let's just take her back to base, then you can run a background check on her and see if she's clean. Until then, we keep her on surveillance. She's just a kid, how bad can it be?" The responder seemed to not agree, since the guy quickly added, "Wanda is an exception." the connected people had probably agreed to the plan, because the guy picked up the kid and walked out of the compound. He met with a couple of people outside the facility, near a van.

A woman with red hair dressed in a black catsuit, scrolling through a tablet looked up at him when he arrived, "So that's the enhanced, Clint?"

The guy, Clint, nodded, and put the girl down on the back seat of the van, "Where's Cap?" he asked.

"You were taking so long he decided to go back and see if there were any agents left inside." the woman answered without taking her eyes of the screen.

"Ha, ha, he hasn't come yet, has he?" Clint said lightheartedly.

The woman smirked into the screen, "He'll be around soon. I've told Friday we've got a guest..." she was cut off by a sudden spark as the little fox girl enhanced jolted up and down.

Clint spun around and caught her before she fell to the floor. He hissed and released her, "Ouch, that was one hell of a shock."

The woman looked over, her interest peaked, "You think that's what's keeping her under? Or is that probably just one of her powers?"

Clint shot her a mildly annoyed look, "How am I supposed to know, Nat?"

Nat rolled her eyes, "Is there some sort of device that might be shocking her attached to her? That might a good place to start."

Clint nodded and scanned the girl, "It's hard to tell, she has wires all over her hands and neck. They're all attached to this main point, a collar hidden behind her cloak. Hold on, let me try and break-" he pulled at the collar, but it let out a quick discharge of electricity that made him quickly release the kid, "Never mind, bad idea."

Nat continued to type at her tablet, "If you need help, Cap said he's nearly reached the van." True to her word, someone in a blue suit with white and red stripes around the middle and a circular shield strapped to his back.

"So, that's her, is it?" Cap said as he looked at the rather small child, "Is the tail real?"

Clint nodded, "Obviously. Anyways, we need you to remove the shock collar she's wearing."

Cap leaned forward, his hands tightening around the collar. He slowly started pulling the metal buckle apart. His face contorted from the pain of the electric shocks and the fox-girl's tail bristled as static sparked around the fur. There was a splintering sound and the collar fell apart. The enhanced girl collapsed forward onto the seat and Cap gingerly held up the orange and yellow collar with several wires sticking out of it, the glasses that hid her eyes were dangling from a pair of wires. "We should get this to Tony and see what he thinks."

Clint nodded and took a look back at the girl, finally noticing the massive burns around her neck, "We should get her to the Medbay, right?" he asked.

The other two nodded, "Definitely."

Valerie's Pov:

Valerie woke up with a splitting headache. She didn't understand why the pain was there. She opened her eyes and hissed and squinted against the bright light, flattening her ears. Then she slowly started waking up, processing things. She tried to get up but rings of metal around both her hands kept her in place. Then the sensory data came in. Oh, god, this was obviously not her room. There was too much light, her hammock was situated slightly above the window and she always slept turned away from the window, not only that, but she was sleeping on an actual bed, with the softest pillows she had ever seen. Then there was the smell of disinfectant. Lots of it, like who in their right mind would use so much disinfectant? Then there were the metal and magnetic materials around her. Subconsciously, she could sense three meters around her, and only if it was in large quantities. She had become used to the input from the video games and her phone and occasional piece of jewelry, but this was HUGE. Then the events of last night hit her like a cargo train. "Shit," she muttered, "HYDRA. I was captured." How could she have been so stupid? There was a sound of a door sliding open and she bared her teeth when she smelt someone walk inside. There was something... off, about him. She couldn't place it, but there was something in his scent that wasn't quite... human. It smelled a lot like a large amount of testosterone, but she hadn't ever been able to pinpoint the smell of testosterone so it could be anything. The person touched her arm, cautiously, as though he was afraid. Valerie's instincts took over and she snapped at him.

Turns out she was ridiculous close to his hand, because her teeth scraped his fingers and he yelped and retreated, "Hey! It's okay, you're not in HYDRA anymore." the voice was kind of soothing and oddly familiar, so Valerie cautiously opened her eyes, praying he didn't pepper spray her or something. She blinked when she saw a curly haired man wearing glasses and a lab coat,

"You're Dr. Bruce Banner." she said slowly, "Am I hallucinating or something? 'Cause you can't possibly be real. I mean it's not like I never wanted to meet you, you being an expert in biochemistry and all. But I'm like pretty sure it's never gonna happen. Oh god, I'm rambling. I'm so sorry... are you real, though? Please tell me you're real."

Bruce blinked, either trying to process what she just spouted or trying to get used to the attention, he chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I'm real. What do you remember of last night?"

Valerie twitched her tail, which was started to fall asleep, "Well, I was on a mission. I heard about HYDRA transporting vibranium weapons from a weapon smuggling I was gonna bust. So, I thought if I could stop the delivery while it was en route they wouldn't get the payload. Turns out they were ready for me. Next thing I know is that I feel like my neck's on fire. Then nothing."

Bruce nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose, "So, we can assume Clint found you some time after that because you were out cold in one of the cells when they busted the place. Can you feel anything in your neck?" Valerie looked at him blankly, so he leaned forward and touched it against her neck, "Did you feel that?"

Valerie shook her head, "No... why? What's wrong with my neck?"

Bruce shook his head, "Nothing's wrong. Well, nothing that can't be fixed. The shock collar left third degree burns but your nerve endings will grow back in at least a month or two. Anything else?"

Valerie stared at him, "Why am I tied up?"

Bruce looked startled at the change in her tone from sweetly innocent to mildly dangerous, "Nat didn't want to take chances. She did a background check on you when they got back from that mission. That's why I'm here; to take of the handcuffs. I'll be back, Nat's debriefing everyone about you during breakfast, so it's probably not a good idea to pop up until after breakfast."

"Breakfast?" at the sound of food, Valerie just realized how hungry she was. Like, it felt like her stomach was about to digest HER.

Bruce nodded, "If you like, I'll send Peter down with a tray, alright?"

Valerie nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good. Wait, who's Peter?"

Bruce glanced at her, a kind of panicked look appeared on his face for a split second, before going back into kind doctor mode, "He's just an intern for Stark Industries, he drops by a lot, and he helps out with everything. I need to go, so just let me..." he clicked a remote and the handcuffs fell off Valerie. He backed out of the door, which opened automatically "Bathroom's in the door on the right. Natasha washed your clothes, they're inside as well. Just wait for Peter and stay put."

Valerie watched in a bemused expression as he left, then swung her legs over the bed, and stretched as hard as she could, before looking around. She appeared to be in a large room, well, large by her standards. For rich people, she supposed it was an ordinary size. The whole place looked kind of like a guest room that had been rigged into a temporary hospital room or something. There was equipment lying about, like thermometers and burn cream. She sighed and made her way to the bathroom. What she needed was a long hot shower.

The shower helped. A lot. By the time she came back in the guest room she had woken up in, she had processed everything. It was still bizarre that she was in the Avengers HQ, but she had to admit, with Wakanda being the only source for vibranium and their sovereign king being an honorary Avenger and all that, they would have asked the team to recover the metal. It was just her luck they checked wherever she had been stuffed, otherwise she would have been roadkill. She looked around the room with a sigh. It may have been big, but all it contained was a dressing table, a bedside table and what was probably the softest bed in the world. Dr. Banner had told her to stay put until that Peter dude showed up, but what the hell was she expected to do till then?!

Thankfully, that Peter guy showed up pretty quickly. She was trying to pull off a handstand, when the doors automatically slid open to allow a boy in his late teens, with curly brown hair to come inside. Valerie immediately lost her balance, collapsing on the floor. The boy blinked as he looked down at her, "You have a tail." he noted, in an amazed voice.

Valerie pulled herself up, trying to make herself look more dignified than what had just happened. She rotated her ears as well, to the astonishment of the guy who just walked in, "And funny ears." she supplied, smirking. "I'm guessing you're Peter?"

The guy, who was dressed in baggy jeans and a hoodie and awkwardly carried a tray full of plates of toast, eggs and bacon, nodded, carefully putting the tray on the bed, "Yeah, that's me. I'm Peter, Peter Parker. I'm an intern here. Who're you?"

Valerie listened to his spiel, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was really off about his scent. Now, she wasn't saying that in a stalker-ish way, no matter how creepy it sounded. There was just something about this guy that sent alarm bells off in her head. The kind off smell that wasn't human, or wasn't mostly human. She tried to zone in on the source but then he snapped his fingers in front of her face, she lost her focus and looked up at him, "What?"

Peter was staring at her expectedly, "I was asking you your name. What is it?"

Valerie blinked, "Dr. Banner didn't tell you?"

Peter shrugged, "Well, yeah, I guess. Still, I need a proper introduction, right?"

Valerie nodded, "I suppose so. Well, my name's Valerie Simmons. And is that tray for me? Cause I'm starving. I don't think I've ever gone this long without eating."

Peter started, as if just realizing why he was here in the first place, "Yeah, sure, dig in." Valerie thankfully picked up a piece of toast and some bacon, and started eating. Peter looked around, half-heartedly before asking his next question, "Is your tail real?"

Valerie held up a finger while she chewed, then she swallowed and replied, "Yeah, and my ears. I've got a few other powers as well, but these two are the most obvious ones."

Peter looked around as Valerie returned to her food, "Mr. Stark didn't tell me all that much about you," he said, "so I'm going off a hunch here... Are you a vigilante?"

Valerie finished her toast, before the smirking, "One of the best!" she boasted, eagerly, "I'm the Dark Fox."

Peter rubbed the back of his head, regretfully, "Er... never heard of her." he said sheepishly.

Valerie deflated, disappointed, "I work in the shadows most of the time so you probably wouldn't have." she finally said, as though trying to excuse away his ignorance, "Besides, the Dark Fox isn't a she, it's an it."

Peter raised an eyebrow, "I'm, sorry, what...?"

Valerie grinned, "I sometimes teleported. There was this special gear that allowed me to warp to places. So, with my expert marksmanship and constant teleportation, I somehow convinced the smuggling amateurs that I'm a demon."

Peter chuckled, "There is no way you pulled that off."

Valerie drained the glass of orange juice, "Don't be so sure."

Peter checked his watch, "Er... the debriefing should almost be over, then you can go around the rest of the facility. We're gonna need to see some of your powers, for the database, while you wait for your guardian to pick you up. So... until then, which Avenger do you think is the most inspiring?"

Valerie's eyes narrowed, "Don't you work in the same building as the Avengers?" she asked, "You probably see them every day."

Peter shrugged, "Sometimes I like to hear what others think of them. So, who inspired you to be Dark Fox?"

Valerie twiddled with her thumbs, "I guess, every Avenger is admirable." she said slowly, thinking her words out. She usually wasn't all that good with people, usually because she was terrified of them finding out about her tail and ears. But maybe it was the fact this Peter guy already knew or the fact that his charisma and friendliness overpowered her, but she found herself talking, "Hawkeye is cool, the way he can beat aliens and evil robots with only his bow and arrow is amazing." She leaned back on the bed, her breakfast gone. Peter had stolen the last piece of toast when she wasn't looking, the jerk, she'd sort him out later, "Black Widow is awesome, being the only woman in the original Avengers and all. But my all-around favorite would be... Spiderman." Peter choked on his stolen piece of toast, coughing violently. Valerie looked at him, concerned, "Are you okay? I mean, you kind of deserved it, stealing my toast, but still, what's wrong?"

Peter eyes were watering slightly, "I fine. Why do you think Spiderman's the best Avenger, anyway? He's not even an official member."

Valerie crossed her arms, "Well, he should be. What's with you anyways? I didn't peg you for a Spidey-hater."

Peter shook his head, "Nah, I don't hate him. He's cool, sure."

She would've hounded him more but then a disembodied voice spoke up, "Peter, boss wants you to bring Valerie Simmons to the main room. The rest of the Avengers wish to meet her." Valerie screamed, her ears twitching, trying to locate the noise and the glass on the tray was knocked down by her wildly swinging tail.

Peter discreetly caught the glass by shooting a web out of the bracelet-type device on his wrist before retrieving it and setting it on the tray. Valerie didn't notice, still looking for the source of the voice, "That was just FRIDAY. She's Mister Stark's AI and is connected to everything. Bruce must've asked her to not startle you or something."

Valerie nodded, still looking suspiciously at the roof, "Did she just say that the AVENGERS wanted to meet me?" she said.

The feminine voice answered, "I'm trying to get in contact with your guardian. Until he responds, Bruce thought it would be better for Wanda to explain what's going on."

Valerie scratched her ear absent-mindedly, "Scarlet Witch?! I get to meet her? You've gotta be kidding!"

Peter rolled his eyes, "Don't let her hear you calling her that. C'mon, let me show you where the main room is."

Valerie nodded excitedly, her tail whipping around as she trotted after Peter, as he guided her through the winding halls of the Avengers HQ. It was huge, and empty. It made sense though, SHEILD had been shut down ages ago, so none of their agents would be around to keep an eye on things and she couldn't really imagine the Avengers hiring just anyone, the team thrived on brilliant people after all. So, she went through stainless steel corridors and huge floor to ceiling windows with harsh lighting until they came to a place that Valerie assumed was the main room. It was as sophisticated as the rest of the building, with a lot of glass walls (which didn't seem like a good idea to Valerie, but what did she know?) a few brown and orange couches had been set up in a sort of loose ring, with a coffee table in the middle. A huge TV was on the wall, and it was bigger than anything she had ever seen. It was definitely larger than a 75" TV, and the game consoles attached to it had her itching to try it. But the sane part of her reminded herself that she was in a billionaire superhero's house and couldn't really play on it. A young strawberry blonde woman was sitting on one of the couches, casually strumming a guitar. Valerie could see some other people in the kitchen area, namely Black Widow, Hawkeye and who she thought was Bucky Barnes, but she focused her fangirling on one person for now. "Oh god, you're Wanda Maximoff!" she faintly squealed.

The woman smiled at her, "Yeah, you must be Valerie, nice to meet ya. Thanks a bunch for bringing her over, Pete!"

Peter nodded, "Yeah, see you. I've got to go work on Karen right now. Have fun, Valerie!" then he dashed out of the room, leaving Valerie alone with Wanda.

Valerie fiddled with her thumbs, as Wanda went back to strumming her guitar idly, before she finally blurted out, "Can you really make a force field? Or like levitate stuff? 'Cause some people say you can but I've never seen it happen... Can you really do that stuff?"

Wanda looked amused by her questions when red misty lines slowly wrapped around the guitar she was playing with, lifting it into the air, she smirked at Valerie, "Yeah, I can do that stuff. Your guardian, Derek, should be answering soon, he really should've picked up earlier if he was really worried, but until then, what do you want to do?"

Valerie wasn't exactly disappointed, per se, being treated like a rather annoying kid someone was being forced to babysit, but she had to admit that was exactly what she was right now. "Umm... do you have a jogging track or something? I'd like to stretch my legs, if that's okay?"

Wanda smiled, "Yeah sure, no problem. Come on." She got up and waved her hand, gesturing for Valerie to follow her and led her outside to where a long jogging track of sorts wrapped around the compound. Valerie grinned toothily and her ears twitched excitedly as her tail flicked around. She armed up her legs, before cracking her knuckles and taking off down the track as fast she could. Wind whipped back her tail and forced her ears down, she was remarkably fast, that she had always known, but she had never been able to go near her boundaries in Brooklyn. She spun a corner wildly, nearly slamming into a dark-skinned man with black hair, she spun herself around and expertly dodged him and continued running. She heard the man curse and speed up so she turned around and started running backwards, yawning pointedly. The guy gritted his teeth and sped up until he and Valerie were neck and neck. Valerie smirked tightly, before spinning back so she was facing forward and started running, her tail nearly tripping her up. The two continued this way, with Valerie usually in the lead, until the guy slowed down, wheezing, to collapse on to the grass on the side. Valerie tilted her head, her left ear flattened while the right one perked up. "What's wrong? You're not tired, are you?" she taunted, a smirk on her lips, as she took deep breaths of oxygen.

The guy rolled his eyes, "You just have to rub it in, don't you?"

Valerie's scratched her ears, "Who are you anyways?"

The guy glared daggers at her, "You're kidding, right? You've never heard of Falcon?"

Valerie's tail and ears perked up, "You're Sam Wilson, as in the Falcon?! Omigod, I just beat THE FALCON in a footrace! Best day of my life!"

Sam scowled, "I was already tired when you showed up! That wasn't even a race, I can beat you in a real race any day!"

Valerie cocked her head, amusement glinting in her bright green eyes, "Are you seriously challenging a fifteen-year-old to a race? If so, challenge accepted."

Wanda suddenly ran up, before Sam could respond. She was breathing heavily, "God, you're fast. What're you doing?"

Sam smirked as he stood up, "I'm proving to FoxGirl here that I can't be outrun by a teenager."

Wanda sighed exasperatedly, "You can't possibly be serious, right? Oh, of course you're serious, what am I saying? You run into a teen vigilante who was electrocuted half to death and the first thing you do when you run into them is challenge them to a footrace!" she sounded like she was scolding him, even though Wanda was way shorter than Sam.

Valerie looked between the two of them before chiming in, "So are we still having a footrace? Cause I wanna know if I can actually beat the Falcon!" Sam shrugged and walked back onto the jogging track, with Valerie on his tail.

"One circuit round the whole track. First one back here; wins. Got it?" Sam asked. Valerie smirked and nodded. "Okay then! 3... 2... 1... Go!" The two charged down the track as fast as they could, pretty much neck and neck, but halfway through, Sam started losing speed while Valerie remained perfectly fine. By the end, Sam was wheezing as he collapsed on the side of the jogging track, while Valerie brushed off her tail, breathing heavily.

Her face was flushed from running her hair was sticking to her face, but she looked more or less like she could run the whole thing again, "Did I win?" she asked hopefully.

Wanda looked like she was about to burst out laughing, "Yeah, you won!"

Valerie's eye pupils dilated and her ears perked up, "Aw, hell yes!" she cheered, "I outran an Avenger! Wait till Dani finds out!"

Sam got an alarmed look on his face, "Don't you dare tell Cap, kid..."

His voice was cut off by FRIDAY who piped up, "Wanda, Sam, boss is calling an emergency meeting."

Wanda smiled ruefully, "Sorry, kid. Stay out of trouble for a while, okay? We'll be back."

Valerie nodded, "Kay, see you. When do you think Derek will call?"

Wanda shrugged, "Can't say for sure. I bet it will be any time now."

**Author's note: Sorry for the absence! I'm currently looking for another beta, so that's why my first double update is so choppy. If anyone feels like it, please PM me.**


	6. Failure

The Avengers fidgeted awkwardly, "So... Stark, why are we here?" Wanda asked eventually.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, he looked like he wanted to be sick. "Tony..." Steve started

Tony waved his hand, "FRIDAY, show it to them." FRIDAY immediately pulled up a holographic display of an online news article, a man was slumped on the street, "They identified the guy as one Derek Simmons. Guess now we know why he isn't picking up." He said, slowly.

Peter froze, "Oh shit, how did it happen?"

Natasha laced her fingers, "Obviously it was Hydra. But they are usually more subtle. why are they beingso obvious?"

Sam let out a low whistle, "Damn it. What do with her?"

Peter glared at him, "We can't just throw her into the foster system!" He argued, "What sort of idea is that? 'Here you go, we saved your sorry ass on a suicidal mission. Whoops, your only relative is dead! Bye!' Have you gone mad?"

Everyone looked away immediately, "That's really not how I was thinking about it, but yeah, it seems a little harsh, what DO we do?" Clint asked

Everyone was silent for a second, then Wanda blurted out, "She can stay here!"

Absolute silence.

Then Bruce said patiently, "Wanda, you can't just adopt her. She's a random girl who we found trapped in a HYDRA cell."

Clint nodded, "Normally, I wouldn't be against this sort of thing, but have you looked around? We're the most chaotic household in history. Pretty sure Child Services will refuse when they hear Tony's name." He snarked. Tony flipped him offf, Whatever, Hawkass. We can't just dump her in the foster system! That kid has potential, she's special. If we send her into the foster system, she'd probably be sent into a lab for observation!"

Natasha sighed, "I'm not comfortable with having that kid around. There's next to no information about her until she's eight. And none of that information hints at a good kid. Always getting suspended, picking fights, being absent for most of the year..."

Peter groaned, "She punched out Flash, when he was three years older than her. She can't be all bad!"

Sam shot him a look, "Just cause she used her superpowers to sort a bully you never bothered standing up to doesn't mean she's the best thing since sliced bread, okay? Nat's right, we should be suspicious, there are a lot of unanswered questions about her..."

Wanda scowled at him, "You're just mad that she beat you in a foot race."

Silence. Then, Steve cautiously asked, "She beat you in a footrace?"

Sam just sighed, "I'm not proud of it either."

Vision was just listening the entire time until he decided to speak up, "Might I suggest a vote?" He offered.

Bruce looked around, "Why didn't we do that sooner?" He asked, everyone shrugged.

Tony grinned, "Okay, all in favour of Valerie staying, say I." Tony, Peter, Wanda, Clint, Bruce, Vision, Thor and Steve raised their hands and said I. Tony smirked, "Okay, that's a majority! We win! Friday, contact Child Services and tell them about the situation. Now, who wants to tell her about what happened to her brother?"

They all looked at Peter, who gulped, "Why me?"

Bruce scrambled for an excuse, "Cause you talked to her for a little while, right? You have some common ground. Also tact, tact is very important and no one else has even a sliver of it. Maybe Nat does but she's definitely not being caring to the girl who has more secrets than her."

Peter groaned, "She's gonna be so upset, I don't want to be around if she ever gets mad. I've seen her strength, she'll probably break down the wall or something and that shit's been reinforced with a vibranium/ iron alloy!"

"Language." Both Tony and Steve said at the same time, then paused, after which Tony groaned, "Just great! I'm turning into Capsicle!"

Peter shuddered, "Whatever. I'll go, tell her what happened."

Peter stepped outside to find the excitable girl playing Mario Kart with a bunch of NPCs. And she was absolutely demolishing them. Her nose twitched when he came in and he found himself wondering if she could smell his scent, which made him equal parts disgusted and curious as to what he would even smell like. Back to telling her about her brother, "Um, Valerie, there's been a little complication." He said. Valerie raised her eyebrows and Peter found himself wondering if she could smell his fear, like a bloodhound. "Spill." She commanded.

Peter bit his lip, "It's kind of weird, but while you were beating Sam at a footrace, we had this meeting and it turns out-"

Valerie glared at him, her eyes shrunk into pupils, her ears flattened, tail wagging feverishly and her blue-black canines glinting fiercely, "I. Said. Spill. You were the only person who didn't treat me with kid gloves and I appreciated it, but you're acting weird. What's up, Peter?"

Peter sighed, then he shrilly replied, "Yourbrotherwasshottodeathonthestreet!"

Valerie paused, "What?" Her eyes glistened as though she understood what he had said, but wanted him to repeat it anyways.

Peter sighed, "Gah! I'm so sorry! I really don't know how to say this better... Ah come on, I need to take you somewhere."

He guided the confused teen out the door and into the garage, and snatching the least expensive car before heading out. Valerie's ears were nervously twitching, her nose quivering as if smelling his guilt. An hour long drive did nothing to diffuse the tension. He pulled up into the mortuary Friday had reported as containing Derek's body. Valerie took one look at the body and tears starting trickling down. He couldn't see her ears, but he was pretty sure they were lying down flat. He looked at her and tried to put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, hey, it's gonna get better. I know it hurts. I'm so sorry this shouldn't have happened, but Mr Stark said he's gonna give you a home, however long you want it. Just calm down." He soothed, guiding her back in the car and starting the long trek home.

Valerie was sobbing the entire ride back. She had taken off her hat and had dashed off as soon as they had parked. She went to the bathroom, locked herself in and cried for hours. Steve eventually came to get her. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." She replied hiccuping a little through her tears

He tugged at his sleeves, "I… know it's hard. I thought I lost a friend once, who might as well have been my brother, we were just that close. The pain I felt then was difficult to bear, I can't imagine what you're going through right now."

Valerie wiped away her tears, her ears no longer drooping but leaning backwards like an alley cat getting ready for a fight, "Well, unlike you, my actual blood, only living relative, guardian for my entire life is really DEAD and what's worse is that it's my fault! Do you have any idea how I feel? DO YOU?!" With a thud, Valerie slammed her fist in to the wall, leaving a little crater where it was left.

Her tail was whipping backwards and forwards and her eyes were menacing slits. Steve got the idea that she was not in a playful mood. He sighed, time to try another tactic, "We have a gym. With reinforced punching bags." He offered.

Valerie glared and marched off, her teeth grinding.

Clint walked into the gym, he could hear Valerie growling and sobbing as she punched a punching bag. He came inside just in time to see her punch the bag clear off its hook. He gulped, that punching bag was designed so not even Cap would be able to do that. He continued watching, trying to determine the next course of action. He didn't want her to waste away if her metabolism was anything like what Bruce had hypothesised. He didn't have to wait, though. Valerie immediately pounced on the felled bag. She was kicking at it, biting it, screaming and sobbing and Clint immediately pulled her away. She turned towards him in pure anger. He looked at her, "Calm the hell down." He ordered, "This isn't the end of the world. You might think trying to beat me up might make you feel better but the honest truth is all that's gonna give you is a sore arm."

Valerie deflated. The rumble of her stomach made obvious.

Dinner was an uncomfortable affair. Tony tried to cautiously avoid the gaze of the young girl who was alternatively stabbing at the haleem Bruce had made, a type of meat stew that he had picked up in India, or sobbing into a tissue. Wanda slowly wrapped the young girl in a hug, patting her back soothingly. "It's gonna be okay. I know what it feels like. I had a brother too, he died on a mission..."

Valerie brought in a strangled breath, "In Sokovia," she said quietly, "In the Battle against Ultron. Quicksilver, he was so brave."

Wanda laughed sadly, "His real name was Pietro Maximoff. He loved me so much. When he died…"

"It felt like the end of the world." The two said simultaneously. Valerie frowned, while Wanda's eyes twinkled.

"You can stay as long as you want." Wanda promised. "We'll foster you for as long as it takes to get you back up on your feet."

Valerie nodded, listlessly "Yeah. Thanks."

* * *

**TTATT Oh god, I'm so sorry! I had this entire thing planned out, there was an original villain, several old classics, SHURI had a major role and she's still not here! But I can't do this right now, it's taking so much time to get through the unhappy bits, and I am really not in an unhappy mood. Maybe I'll get around to it whenever I'm feeling depressed, but until then I cannot, and since it's so important to her arc, until I am sufficiently depressed, this story is on hiatus!**


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